‘Digging the Past’ draws interest in history

Campus Martius Museum holds archaeology event

January 19, 2014

MARIETTA - Several hundred lovers of history filled the Campus Martius Museum on Saturday, wanting to learn through "Digging the Past," an archaeology-centric event.

"Those of us here like to share our collections with each other and the public," said John Barnhart of Circleville, Ohio.

Barnhart, an amateur archaeologist who also serves as a member of a number of historical organizations throughout Ohio, brought a large number of arrowheads and other artifacts he has found in central Ohio as well as the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Article Photos

Photo by Jolene CraigDarrell Fouse, right, of Washington, W.Va., shows John Barnhart, an amateur archaeologist and member of state historical organizations, of Circleville, Ohio, one of his archaeological relics at the Campus Martius Museum on Saturday during the second annual “Digging the Past” Archeology Day.

Photo by Jolene CraigJeff Dearth, left, of Hilliard, Ohio, who brought a few of his original tomahawks, looks at a collection of items brought by Darrell Fouse of Washington, W.Va., in the Campus Martius Museum on Saturday during the second annual “Digging the Past” Archaeology Day.

"I have two collections - Indian relics and long rifles - and today I brought the relics," he said with a grin. "It's just great to learn the history of where you live through the items left by those who were here before you."

Bill Reynolds, organizer of the event and historian at the museum, said Barnhart was one of between 15 and 20 people who showed off their collections.

"We also have flintknappers who are showing off not only their talents but how arrowheads and other sharp tools were made," Reynolds said. "It is a dying art and very interesting to watch."

Fact Box

History Lovers

* Several hundred people attended the second annual "Digging the Past" archaeology program at Campus Martius Museum in Marietta.

* Along with presentations about the area's archaeology there was an identification clinic with the Ohio Historical Society and flintknappers displaying their work.

* This was the second time the museum has hosted an archaeology event for adults, an event for children was held last September.

Saturday's event was the third "Digging the Past" program at the museum but the first time it included prehistoric and historic archeology.

"We have everything - items that are millions of years old all the way to things made 150 years go," Reynolds said. "It's wonderful."

According to Reynolds, prehistoric is defined as having no written history and history must be interpreted through speculation while historic archeology is written and covers what our recent ancestors experienced and remembered.

"In historic archeology, people can expect to have military finds from native villages and trading posts, such as our early settlement days in the 18th Century," Reynolds said.

Along with the private collections and the flintknappers, Saturday's event also included a demonstration of how to work bone into tools. Bill Pickard, with the Ohio Historical Society, identified objects people brought in.

Another participant was Jeff Dearth, of Hilliard, Ohio, who brought a small number of tomahawk axes from his collection.

"I have tomahawks from the early 1700s and as late as the 19th Century," he said. "They are a piece of our nation's history that we need to share."

This was Dearth's first time at the event and Reynolds said he was excited to have the private collection on display.

"It is incredible that he has these items," Reynolds said. "One was carried by a well-known Indian during the treaty of Ft. Harmar and is a significant piece."

Dearth said it is important to professional archaeologists and private collectors, like himself, to share what they have and know.

"We are the caretakers of these items for a short time and we need to make sure this kind of history doesn't get lost," he said.

During Saturday's event, speakers included Brent Ruby, an archaeologist for the National Park Service, who talked about the Hopewell National Historic Park; Misti Spillman, The Castle education coordinator, who spoke about an archaeological dig around The Castle on Fourth Street; Jerry Anderson, who talked about the Mound Builder's Housing Shortage; and Doug Angenloni, who discussed the Skeletons of Ft. Laurens, which was about the soldiers who died there.